"One truth: that the mind is below truth, not above it, and is bound, not to descant upon it, but to venerate it; that truth and falsehood are set before us for the trial of our hearts." ~Bl. John Henry Newman

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Revvin' up!

In a fit of therapeutic shopping online (most of which happens at Amazon.com with "one-click"), I hit the button and ordered a new Hans Urs von Balthasar. This one is simply Prayerand boasts such chapter headings as "The Necessity of contemplation," "Mediation by the Church," "Totality," "Flesh and Spirit," and "The Cross and Resurrection."

From the Preface:

"Contemplation's ladder, reaching up to heaven, begins with the word of scripture, and whatever rung we are on, we are never beyond this hearing of the word. In contemplation, just as we can never leave the Lord's humanity behind us, neither can we get 'beyond' the word in its human form. It is in the humanity that we find God, in the world of sense that we find the Spirit."

Be still, my heart!

And be prepared for continuing raptures in this space. Now... to just get rid of the latest head cold.

2 comments:

Erika- We own that book. I remember trying to read it during my sophomore year in college. It was not light reading, that is for sure. It's a real mental and spiritual workout and I never made it through the whole thing at the time. Perhaps that would change now, but it was a bit too much for me at the time. Enjoy. I'm eager to hear your thoughts on it.

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Every mother can be a student of philosophy and needs a way to learn answers to the great questions: who am I? where am I going and where did I come from? how do I know good and evil? what is there after life? The gift of motherhood is also a responsibility to form our minds and hearts for our children and husbands. This blog is a way for us to work together through these questions in the virtual communion of saints and sinners.